Chapter 1933 - Forging a Divine Steed

As Liu Wuxie crossed the threshold of his room, the neighboring door opened, and a man and woman emerged. Dissipation clung to the man's sleazy features, while the woman radiated the same lascivious air. Their indulgence had lasted until well past midnight.

"Did you sleep well last night, young man?" the woman teased, letting out a coquettish chuckle, her ample chest swaying beneath her robes.

A crease formed between Liu Wuxie's brows as he strode toward the inn's exit. Throngs of cultivators had already begun streaming out of the city, all bound for the Divine Steed Manor.

Slipping effortlessly into the human tide, Liu Wuxie noticed Lu Shan and his wife in the distance. He did not attempt to greet them, however, since he had no intention of becoming friends with anyone for the time being.

The Divine Steed Manor lay more than a day’s journey from the city. Reaching it required taking a teleportation array to another city and crossing several mountain ranges before finally arriving near the edge of the Celestial Weave Domain.

Grandeur and authority surrounded the Divine Steed Manor. Two imposing divine steed constructs flanked its gates, one resembling a qilin and the other a toad. Their peculiar forms served both to guard the estate and to attract prosperity.

Poised on opposite sides of the entrance, the two divine steeds possessed remarkably flexible bodies and eyes that moved independently. Like guardian deities keeping eternal vigil, they watched every corner of their surroundings. Whenever anyone approached, both divine steeds responded, sometimes even producing sounds.

Cultivators crowded every side of the Divine Steed Manor, yet none could do more than pitch camp beyond its walls. Only those who had reached the Golden Immortal Realm could enter the estate. Even cultivators in the Divine Immortal Realm lacked the qualifications to pass through its gates.

Someone like Liu Wuxie, whose cultivation was in the Spirit Immortal Realm, was exceedingly rare here. Most of the weakest arrivals had already reached the pinnacle of the Profound Immortal Realm, making him stand out.

As Liu Wuxie observed from among the gathered cultivators, numerous Divine Steed Manor disciples hurried back and forth, each engrossed in their assigned duties.

"Friends, you've traveled a long way to be here. Our manor has limited space, so please forgive any shortcomings in our hospitality," a Golden Immortal Realm elder said, cupping his fists toward the surrounding cultivators. "The Divine Steed Tournament begins two days from now. Anyone who hasn't finished constructing their divine steed needs to hurry."

Across the surrounding grounds, the Divine Steed Manor had raised countless tents to house the visiting cultivators. Though the accommodations were crude, no one cared about such trivial discomforts. They had journeyed there for the Asura Blade's fragment, after all. Compared to that prize, a few inconveniences meant nothing.

Having delivered his announcement, the Golden Immortal Realm elder turned and disappeared back into the Divine Steed Manor.

Liu Wuxie climbed to a stretch of elevated ground and swept his gaze over the entire Divine Steed Manor. Only from this vantage point did he realize that its true scale far exceeded his expectations.

Despite its immense size, however, the Divine Steed Manor ranked as no more than a third-tier force within the Celestial Weave Domain. It could not even meet the standard of a second-tier force.

The Celestial Weave Domain generally classified its powers as superpowers, first-tier forces, second-tier forces, and every rank below them. The same hierarchy applied to clans.

Any sect with an Immortal Emperor at its helm qualified as a superpower, yet only a handful of such organizations existed across the entire celestial realm. Most major powers belonged to the first tier and operated under the command of an immortal regnant.

That distinction did not necessarily make first-tier forces weaker than superpowers. Every first-tier force possessed trump cards comparable to artifacts of the Immortal Emperor Realm, and their accumulated foundations were no less formidable than those of the superpowers.

Furthermore, numerous first-tier forces sheltered experts at the Quasi-Immortal Emperor Realm, some of whom wielded combat strength rivaling that of Immortal Emperors. First-tier forces were plentiful throughout the celestial realm and controlled nearly half of its territories. Superpowers, by comparison, were pitifully scarce.

Many Immortal Emperors had risen over the years, but countless among them preferred to roam unhindered and felt no desire to establish their own power. Liu Wuxie had lived the same way in his previous life, walking a solitary path.

His gaze traveled across the surrounding wilderness, where innumerable tents glowed beneath the night. Inside them, cultivators labored tirelessly over their divine steeds, each determined to seize first place. Only one Asura Blade fragment existed, and fortune would decide who ultimately took possession of it.

Given the circumstances, wresting the Asura Blade fragment away from the Divine Steed Manor appeared nearly impossible. The manor would certainly never permit an outsider to surpass them.

"I'd better start refining my divine steed," Liu Wuxie murmured as he descended from the high ground. With only two days remaining, he had precious little time to complete its construction.

Most of the cultivators had arrived with companions, allowing them to divide the work and assemble their divine steeds at astonishing speed.

The sheer number of people nearby prompted Liu Wuxie to head toward the mountain behind the Divine Steed Manor, where far fewer cultivators wandered. If circumstances demanded it, he could enter the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and construct his divine steed within.

"Brat, we're two materials short. Do you have them?" a voice called from behind Liu Wuxie shortly after he left the crowd.

The man and woman from the inn strode forward and barred his path. Without the slightest courtesy, the man thrust out his hand and openly demanded Liu Wuxie's interspatial ring.

"I don't have any of the materials you want," Liu Wuxie answered coldly. Handing over his interspatial ring was out of the question.

"I haven't even told you what we need. How could you possibly know you don't have it?" the man challenged, keeping his hand outstretched.

"Whatever you're after, I have nothing to give you," Liu Wuxie replied with an indifferent shrug. Their demands had nothing to do with him.

"Why be so unfriendly, Little Brother? We're only asking to borrow them," the woman purred, swaying her waist as she approached Liu Wuxie and reached to pat his shoulder.

They were at the pinnacle of the Profound Immortal Realm, whereas Liu Wuxie was only at the Spirit Immortal Realm. In their eyes, they had cornered defenseless prey.

Liu Wuxie glided sideways before the woman's hand could touch him. A poisonous needle shot from the woman's fingers and buried into the ground instead. Venom truly filled this woman's heart, for even the slightest delay in Liu Wuxie's reaction and the needle would have struck him.

Such cruelty came as no surprise in the Celestial Weave Domain, a place ten thousand times more brutal than Eastern Emperor City, where the smallest disagreement could end in death. That danger was precisely why Liu Wuxie had forbidden Ye Linghan from searching for him. He feared for her safety.

"Those feet of yours are quicker than expected," the woman remarked without a trace of alarm. She had plainly never expected Liu Wuxie to evade the attack so swiftly, since no ordinary Spirit Immortal could have escaped it.

"I have no desire to kill anyone, so keep your distance and leave me alone," Liu Wuxie warned.

Too many eyes lingered in the surrounding area, and Liu Wuxie had no wish to invite needless trouble. Even with Blackie at his side, they were still no match for a Golden Immortal, forcing him to move with caution.

"Ha! Hahaha!" the couple howled with laughter, finding Liu Wuxie's warning thoroughly entertaining. They could scarcely believe that a mere Spirit Immortal had dared to threaten them.

Although the crowd was some distance away, wandering gazes still occasionally swept toward them.

"Brat, do you have the nerve to follow us into the rear mountain?" the couple demanded. They also wanted to avoid drawing attention and intended to deal with Liu Wuxie once they reached a secluded place.

"Perfect. That's exactly where I wanted to go," Liu Wuxie replied before leading the way toward the rear mountain. He still lacked several materials for his divine steed, and these two had conveniently delivered them to him.

The three entered a dense forest, leaving the surrounding clamor to fade behind them. Liu Wuxie activated the Ghost Pupil and Divine Tribulation Pupil, first ensuring that no one else lurked nearby.

"Brat, are you handing it over willingly, or do we have to take it from you?" the man asked as he advanced. Certain that they were alone, he unleashed the full pressure of his pinnacle Profound Immortal Realm cultivation.

The crushing aura failed to affect Liu Wuxie in the slightest. Instead, a sneer curled at the corner of his lips. These two had merely reached the pinnacle of the Profound Immortal Realm, far below the level required to threaten him.

Step by step, the man closed the distance until less than a meter remained between them.

Without warning, Liu Wuxie lifted his right hand and struck. The blow launched the man through the air like a kite with a severed string, sending him crashing heavily to the ground.

The violent reversal stunned the couple. Every trace of seduction vanished from the woman's face as rows of poisonous needles filled her hands, then streaked toward Liu Wuxie.

An ominous black sheen glimmered across the flying needles, each tip saturated with poison.

"You chose death yourselves, so don't blame me for showing no mercy," Liu Wuxie declared. Mercy had never governed his actions. The Bloodthirst Blade materialized in his grasp and slashed downward in a ferocious arc, its blade aura sweeping every poisonous needle aside in a terrifying display.

Scrambling upright, the man hurled himself back into the fight and brought his sword crashing down from overhead.

The couple moved quickly, but Liu Wuxie moved faster. Two trails of blood sprayed through the darkness, and both attackers instantly stiffened where they stood.

The Bloodthirst Blade flashed into existence for only a heartbeat before vanishing once more. Liu Wuxie then dragged both bodies into the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, erasing every trace of what had happened. Even if someone investigated the area later, they would uncover no clues.

Two interspatial rings floated above the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. Liu Wuxie sent his divine sense into them.

"So in the end, you two did me a favor," Liu Wuxie remarked. Inside the man's interspatial ring lay a half-completed divine steed. The couple had truly exhausted their materials and could no longer continue their construction, prompting them to rob Liu Wuxie.

Never could they have imagined that beneath Liu Wuxie's apparent Spirit Immortal Realm cultivation lay combat strength capable of rivaling cultivators at the pinnacle of the Origin Immortal Realm.

Liu Wuxie studied the divine steed's bizarre design. Its unfinished body looked somewhat like a horse, yet failed to resemble one completely. Traces of a tiger also appeared in its frame, though it possessed none of a tiger's powerful build.

"They actually planned to enter the tournament with such crude Divine Steed Art," Liu Wuxie remarked, shaking his head at the incomplete creation.

He removed the divine steed from the interspatial ring and set it on the ground. Standing only slightly taller than a person, it resembled an enormous wooden puppet more than a living mount. Frost Iron formed its entire frame, granting it exceptional sturdiness, but its almost nonexistent defensive capabilities remained a fatal flaw.

The Divine Steed Manor would never have dared to organize this tournament if the contest were truly simple. Anyone who believed the competitors merely had to race their divine steeds would be gravely underestimating the challenge.

Liu Wuxie walked several circles around the divine steed, already considering how to transform it. If he entered the tournament with the construct in its current state, victory would be the least of his concerns. His very survival would be in question.

Memories raced through his mind as he sifted through every possibility. One hour passed before the rough outline of a new design finally emerged in his mind.

"You'll do," Liu Wuxie decided. He emptied every usable material from the couple's interspatial rings and combined them with his own supplies. Together, they provided barely enough to construct a relatively simple divine steed.

More precious materials would naturally produce a sturdier divine steed and grant it offensive capabilities. Liu Wuxie had accumulated many materials over the past six months, yet his collection seemed pitiful compared to the wealth of cultivators from the Celestial Weave Domain.

Unable to gain an advantage through superior materials, Liu Wuxie would have to rely on ingenuity instead. With his resourcefulness, victory remained well within reach.